An experimental personalised cancer vaccine developed by Moderna and Merck reduced the risk of melanoma returning by 42% when added to standard treatment after surgery, according to study results released by the drugmakers on Thursday.
The vaccine, called intismeran, is tailored to each patient’s tumour. The science behind the cancer drug is based on Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology, which was also behind Covid-19 vaccines.
The findings, which measured recurrence risk over two years after surgery, come from the most advanced study yet of the approach.
“The field has been looking for a win, and I think this one is a big one,” said Dr Hussein Tawbi of MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, a researcher involved in the international study.
Intismeran uses the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology employed in COVID-19 vaccines. Researchers are also testing experimental personalised vaccines using mRNA and other approaches against cancers of the lung, kidney and pancreas.
With AP inputs
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